by wheelsONfire on Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:51 pm
I guess people deem "gravel" very different, from one person to another.
I have ridden 30mm Schwalbe tires which are very fast when you come from 40mm rubbers.
I have several pair of tires hanging here.
From 30-43mm wide.
You can use 30mm for gravel, sure, but you won't win speed as much as some believe.
You can ride faster and less precise with larger tires.
You can bomb more.
In my mind gravel is a wide spectra.
I mean, i am not all in for 700c wheels, i ride 650B to.
Now we talk even wider tires.
I could easily ride 28mm on tarmac or even 30mm if it was very rough tarmac.
I have ridden tires down to 20mm on my road bike.
My point is, when you have tested a wide range of tires and really used them for awhile and adapted, it is resonable to use wider tires
for crappy terrain.
Riding gravel using wider tires saves you from alot of unnecessary fatigue.
That alone saves you from getting more tired than needed.
I would not back one second from buying a gravel if i had a Madone.
It will give you much in terms of different and wider range of terrain and cycling.
It will also reward your cycling and your sense towards it using two different bikes.
Road bike to road bike is like changing a green apple against a red.
I promise you, if you go for a gravel and take those roads you pass by on your Madone, i'll bet you would laugh out loud and feel like when you were a kid.
You should consider it twice.
Bikes:
Ax Lightness Vial EVO Race (2019.01.03)
Open *UP* (2016.04.14)
Paduano Racing Fidia (kind of shelved)
Ex bike; Vial EVO D, Vial EVO Ultra, Scott Foil, Paduano ti bike.